exploring crime
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Explorinig crime and criminological theroy.TRANSCRIPT
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Criminal Justice PolicyCriminal Justice Policy
Exploring Exploring CrimeCrime
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Government InterventionGovernment Intervention
In a market-oriented society, the In a market-oriented society, the question becomes: Is the market question becomes: Is the market performing satisfactorily in this area, performing satisfactorily in this area, and if not, why not? and if not, why not?
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Defining Intervention or PolicyDefining Intervention or Policy Clarke E. CochranClarke E. Cochran, et al.: "The term , et al.: "The term public policypublic policy
always refers to the actions of government and the always refers to the actions of government and the intentions that determine those actions." intentions that determine those actions."
Clarke E. Cochran, et al.: "Clarke E. Cochran, et al.: "Public policyPublic policy is the is the outcome of the struggle in government over who outcome of the struggle in government over who gets what." gets what."
Thomas Dye: Thomas Dye: Public policyPublic policy is "Whatever is "Whatever governments choose to do or not do." governments choose to do or not do."
Charles L. Cochran and Eloise F. Malone: "Public Charles L. Cochran and Eloise F. Malone: "Public policy consists of political decisions for implementing policy consists of political decisions for implementing programs to achieve societal goals." programs to achieve societal goals."
B. Guy Peters: "Stated most simply, public policy is B. Guy Peters: "Stated most simply, public policy is the sum of government activities, whether acting the sum of government activities, whether acting directly or through agents, as it has an influence on directly or through agents, as it has an influence on the life of citizens." the life of citizens."
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Criminal Justice PolicyCriminal Justice Policy
Most policy-making in criminal justice is “based on criminological theory, whether the people making those policies know it or not. In fact, most of the failed policies (what doesn't work) in criminal justice are due to misinterpretation, partial implementation, or ignorance of criminological theory.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Simply PutSimply Put
Understanding criminal justice policy, Understanding criminal justice policy, requires and exploration of crime and requires and exploration of crime and theories of crime.theories of crime.
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Every criminological theory Every criminological theory containscontains
Assumptions Description of the phenomena to be
explained Explanation, or prediction, of that
phenomenon
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
AssumptionsAssumptions
about human nature social structure, and the principles of causation, to
name a few)
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Description of the phenomena to Description of the phenomena to be explainedbe explained
“The description is a statistical profile, figure, diagram, or table of numbers representing the patterns, trends, and correlates of the type of crime taken as an exemplar (most appropriate example) of all crime.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Explanation or PredictionExplanation or Prediction
“The explanation is a set of variables (things that can be tweaked or changed) arranged in some kind of causal order so that they have statistical and meaningful significance.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
“A product of the Enlightenment, based on the assumption that people exercise free will and are thus completely responsible for their actions. In classical theory, human behavior, including criminal behavior, is motivated by a hedonistic rationality, in which actors weigh the potential pleasure of an action against the possible pain associated with it.”
Classical theory
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Classical Theory
“In 1764, criminologist Cesare Beccaria wrote An Essay on Crimes and Punishments, which set forth classical criminological theory.
He argued that the only justified rationale for laws and punishments was the principle of utility.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
The principle that a policy should provide “the greatest happiness shared by the greatest number.”
UtilityUtility
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Classical Theory
“Beccaria believed the basis of society, as well as the origin of punishments and the right to punish, is the social contract.”
“The only legitimate purpose of punishment is special deterrence and general deterrence.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Neoclassical Theory
What might prevent free will?
What about premeditation?
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Neoclassical Theory
Classical and neoclassical theory are the foundation of the criminal justice system in the United States.
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Legalistic or NormativeLegalistic or Normative “Almost all criminologists today use a
legalistic rather than normative definition of crime. A legalistic definition of crime takes as its starting point the statutory definitions.”
“A normative definition sees crime as a violation of norms (social standards of how humans ought to think and behave)”
“However, there are times when criminology can shed light on norms and norm violators.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Positivist Approaches to Explaining Crime
“The theory of the positivist school of criminology grew out of positive philosophy and the logic and methodology of experimental science.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
The Positivist School of Thought
Key Points: “Human behavior is determined and not a matter of free
will.
Criminals are fundamentally different from noncriminals.
Social scientists can be objective in their work.
Crime is frequently caused by multiple factors.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Positivist Approaches
At present, criminologist tend to believe crime is a result of a “complex interactions” of different variables.
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
As an example
“Biology or genetics gives an individual a predisposition to behave in a certain way.”
External conditions (social, etc.) cause a person to act in or against that predisposition
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Criminological TheoryCriminological Theory
13 theories13 theories Three are considered “mainstream”Three are considered “mainstream”
StainStain LearningLearning ControlControl
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Biological Theories
“Biological theories of crime causation (biological positivism) are based on the belief that criminals are physiologically different from noncriminals. The cause of crime is biological inferiority.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Psychological Theories
Among the primary are:Intelligence and crimePsychoanalytic theories
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Intelligence and Crime
Prior to 1931, “The idea that crime is the product primarily of people of low intelligence has been popular occasionally in the United States.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Psychoanalytic Theories
“Psychoanalytic theories of crime causation are associated with the work of Sigmund Freud who believed that people who had unresolved deep-seated problems were psychopaths.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Sociological Theories
“Most sociological theories of crime causation assume that a criminal’s behavior is determined by his or her social environment and reject the notion of the born criminal.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Chicago School
“In the 1920s, a group of sociologists known as the Chicago School attempted to uncover the relationship between a neighborhood’s crime rate and the characteristics of the neighborhood.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Chicago School
High delinquency correlated to high disorganization
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Anomie or Strain Theory
“Robert Merton in 1938 wrote about a major contradiction in the U.S. between cultural goals and social structure. He called the contradiction anomie.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Strain
“ the contradiction between the cultural goal of achieving wealth and the social structure’s inability to provide legitimate institutional means for achieving the goal.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Anomie or Strain Theory
“Merton argued that the limited availability of legitimate institutionalized means to wealth puts a strain on people. People adapt through:
Conformity—playing the game.
Innovation—pursuing wealth by illegitimate means.”
continued…
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Learning Theories
“Edwin H. Sutherland—in his theory of differential association—was the first 20th-century criminologist to argue that criminal behavior was learned.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Learning Theories“Among the policy implications of learning theory is to punish criminal behavior effectively, according to learning theory principles. This is not done effectively in the U.S.”
Probation does not function as an aversive stimulus.
Most offenders are not incarcerated.
continued…
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Learning Theories
Punishment is not consistent and immediate.
Offenders are generally returned to the environments in which their crimes were committed.
There is no positive reinforcement of alternative, prosocial behaviors.
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Social Control Theories
Why don’t people commit crime?
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Social Control Theories
“The most detailed elaboration of modern social control theory is attributed to Travis Hirschi who wrote the 1969 book, Causes of Delinquency.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Social Control Theories“Hirschi argued that delinquency should be expected if a juvenile is not properly socialized by establishing a strong bond to society, consisting of:” Attachment to others
Commitment to conventional lines of action
Involvement in conventional activities
Belief in the moral order and law
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Labeling Theory
“once a person commits a first criminal act and gets processed in the system, they are labeled negatively as a criminal.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Conflict Theory
“Conflict theory focuses on the conflict in society between rich and poor, management and labor, whites and minorities.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Radical Theory
“capitalism requires people to compete against each other in the pursuit of material wealth.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Legal positivismLegal positivism
laws are rules made by human beings; and laws are rules made by human beings; and That there is no inherent or necessary That there is no inherent or necessary
connection between law and moralityconnection between law and morality
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
RelativismRelativism
““The view that the meaning and value The view that the meaning and value of human beliefs and behaviors have of human beliefs and behaviors have no absolute reference. Relativists claim no absolute reference. Relativists claim that humans understand and evaluate that humans understand and evaluate beliefs and behaviors only in terms of, beliefs and behaviors only in terms of, for example, their historical and for example, their historical and cultural context. Philosophers identify cultural context. Philosophers identify many different many different kindskinds of relativism of relativism depending upon which classes of depending upon which classes of beliefs allegedly depend upon what.”beliefs allegedly depend upon what.”
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
HermeneuticsHermeneutics
is a particular approach used in the is a particular approach used in the study and interpretation of texts. It study and interpretation of texts. It seeks to understand what an author seeks to understand what an author of a particular text is attempting to of a particular text is attempting to convey to others. The term refers to convey to others. The term refers to the act of the act of interpretinginterpreting
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Is there interpretation in…Is there interpretation in…
Assumptions Assumptions Description of the phenomena to Description of the phenomena to
be explainedbe explained Explanation, or prediction, of Explanation, or prediction, of
that phenomenon. . .that phenomenon. . .
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal Justice, Raymond E. Foster
ReferencesReferences
Bohm, R. & Haley, K. Introduction to Criminal Justice, Bohm, R. & Haley, K. Introduction to Criminal Justice, McGraw-Hill (2003)McGraw-Hill (2003)
NewBurn, T., Crime and Criminal Justice Policy, NewBurn, T., Crime and Criminal Justice Policy, Longman (2003)Longman (2003)
Siegel, L. Criminology Wadsworth (1998)Siegel, L. Criminology Wadsworth (1998) O'Connor, T. In Crime Theories, MegaLinks in O'Connor, T. In Crime Theories, MegaLinks in
Criminal Justice. Retrieved from Criminal Justice. Retrieved from http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/111/111lect03.htmhttp://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/111/111lect03.htm
Frey, R. Contemporary Issues in Anthropological Frey, R. Contemporary Issues in Anthropological Theory, retrieved from Theory, retrieved from http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~rfrey/410hermenhttp://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~rfrey/410hermeneutics.htmeutics.htm
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